A University of Minnesota Medical School research team was awarded a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study early immune responses in the lung and how they influence tuberculosis infection outcomes, according to a June 8 announcement.
The research program is led by Monica Campo, MD, MPH, a physician-scientist at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The focus is on how lung immune cells called macrophages influence the earliest stages of tuberculosis infection.
The study will be conducted through a partnership with the Hennepin County Tuberculosis Clinic. The research team plans to use advanced laboratory tools to examine how individual immune cells in the lungs respond to tuberculosis exposure. Their goal is to identify which types of macrophages help stop infection in its earliest stages.
The study is currently underway, and participant recruitment is expected to begin later this year.
